Friday, September 5, 2014

Autumn Lovely Leaves

Today is my Birthday!  Happy Birthday to me!  Kent and I will be celebrating tonight at our local Not Your Average Joe's restaurant with a free entree and dessert that I received for my birthday because we signed up to receive e-mail promotions from them. So every year I get a free birthday dinner! I've also received several lovely cards from some stamping friends - Thank You Anne, Evelyn, Vicki, Michelle, Sue and BJ!  It's so fun to find home made cards in my mailbox.
So moving on to my card - I used dark chocolate craft metal from Add a Little Dazzle for the leaves, cutting them with Stitched Leaves dies from Lawn Fawn.  I dabbed Distress Paints on them and dried them with a heat tool.  For the embossed panel - I first inked the inside back panel of the embossing folder by rubbing my Old Paper Distress Ink over it - then I put the card stock panel inside, closed the folder and ran it through my Vagabond.  See how the ink colors the background but not the raised design?! 
I just love how the Distress Paints look dabbed onto the metal leaves - my favorite is the mix of Fired Brick and Rusty Hinge on the maple leaf below.
My card was inspired by these challenges:

Curtain Call - Lovely Leaves
Mixed Media Card Challenge - autumn colors with the option of using Metal or Leaves. 
The ePlay Challenge -  Fall
 
Inspiration Emporium - Fall is in the air.

Words 2 scrap by - To Everything there is a season -  mine would be fall!

And not only is today my birthday - but it's also the beginning of the weekend - whoo hoo!!  Have a good one everyone!

Paper:  Soft Stone - PTI
Ink:  Ranger Distress Old Paper
Accessories:  Ranger Distress Paints - Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge, Fired Brick; Embossing folder - Thankful Background and Borders Set - Tim Holtz/Alterations, Dark Chocolate Craft Metal - Add a Little Dazzle, Stitched Leaves Dies - Lawn Fawn,  home made enamel dots made from Perler beads, Glue N Seal - Ranger, Foam dots.

22 comments:

Lisa Lara said...

Gorgeous Julia. I love the embossed sentiments bg and lovely fall colors leaves. Brilliant.

LeAnne said...

Well, Happy Birthday, my friend! And what a lovely leafy creation with which to celebrate it!

*Vicki* said...

A very happy birthday to you!! :) Glad you had a great evening out! Love your card with all of the texture and beautiful Fall leaves! Hugs - *Vicki*
My Blog: Stamp Smiles

Vicki Dutcher said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! -- great letterpress going on here!!

Tracey McNeely said...

Happy Birthday Julia! I hope that you have a fabulous day and dinner tonight!! Your card is just gorgeous! Thank you so much for sharing with us at the Curtain Call!

Anne Harada said...

Happy Birthday friend!! It IS a good day!! Yay for birthdays and weekends! Fabulous card - I love the craft metal sheet you used, first time I've seen them!! Thanks for sharing. Have a great day!

Annette Allen said...

wow those leaves look amazing and the background is perfect.. love it

Redanne said...

Happy Birthday Julia!! Hope you have a wonderful day and get spoiled over the weekend! Love your card, that embossing folder is one of my favourites and I love, love that maple leaf! Anne xx

Redanne said...

Happy Birthday Julia!! Hope you have a wonderful day and get spoiled over the weekend! Love your card, that embossing folder is one of my favourites and I love, love that maple leaf! Anne xx

Renee said...

Happy Birthday!!
Enjoy your night out! :)
Gorgeous card...
can't wait till we start seeing some of those gorgeous fall colors around here!

Mona Pendleton said...

Beautiful card Julia! The embossed background looks awesome and those leaves are incredible!

Deepti said...

Amazing letter press and those leaves are the best ! Hope u had an awesome birthday :)

toni said...

Belated happy birthday wishes Julia! Hope you enjoyed your meal ! Your card is gorgeous ! Love those metal leaves and the way they contrast with the embossed background . Hope you're having a fun weekend Toni xx

Loll said...

Amazing design Julia. Love the embossed background ... and those leaves --- BEE-U-TEE-FUL!! Hope you had a wonderful birthday and a delicious free dinner! :) Loll xx

Sybrina K said...

Hi, Julia.

First of all, belated birthday greetings! Hope you had a wonderful celebration.

Secondly, your card is gorgeous -- absolutely stunning! Love that embossed background and those amazing leaves. :)

So glad you found our challenge blog. Thanks for playing along with our Words 2 Scrap By September challenge.

Micki said...

OMG, LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I keep meaning to try that embossing technique. I love how that turned out. And the leaves...... awesome.

Amy Sheffer said...

Happy belated birthday, Julia! Love what you've done here! Thanks for joining us at the Curtain Call!

Andiepants said...

Love the paint on the metal leaves! They are so artsy and gorgeous! Thank you for playing along iwth the eP fall challenge!

BobbisTreasure said...

What a fabulous embossing folder!!! And your leave are a perfect compliment. Thanks for playing along with us at Words2ScrapBy.blogspot.com! And Happy (belated) birthday!!

Redanne said...

Got a bit carried away with my comments and your birthday, forget to say thanks so much for joining in our challenge at Inspiration Emporium! Anne x

Sybrina K said...

Julia,

Congratulations on being selected as the winner of our September Words 2 Scrap By challenge! How would you feel about an autographed Tim Holtz assemblage clock as a belated birthday gift?

Please e-mail your mailing address to me at cards[dot]by[dot]sybrina[at]gmail[dot]com.

In addition to the clock, we would like to invite you to be a Guest I-Teamer for our December challenge. And, please feel free to display our challenge winner badge (found by scrolling all the way down to the bottom of our home page).

Congratulations again -- your card was absolutely stunning! Looking forward to hearing from you soon. :)

Darnell said...

Congratulations on winning the clock, Julia!! Well-deserved!! Hugs, Darnell